


Catching the Culprit

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Series: Return of the Padawan [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 17:49:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7767367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Obi-Wan is there when the Vision begins, and chases the Force signature... but will they be able to handle the truth of the matter?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catching the Culprit

Ahsoka met the pair with a hand on her small hilt, reacting to Obi-Wan as his presence was not as solidly in her mind as Anakin's. She then brushed her hand down and looked at her Skyguy with an arch of her mark above her right eye.

"So…."

"This is the point he admits you were right, and I knew all along," Obi-Wan said dryly. 

"Ha!" Ahsoka bounced over to her Skyguy and lightly punched his shoulder. "Told ya so." She did not offer physical affection to Obi-Wan, as he was too much a Jedi of the Code in her eyes, and she was not thrilled with any of those.

"You did tell me so, Snips," Anakin agreed, wrapping an arm carefully around her to tug her in closer. "And... I told him. All of it." 

"Good." She turned and wrapped around his middle, holding on tight. Obi-Wan saw that unabashed connection between them and felt a tightness in his chest. He was glad they had it, but… he wished for something like that himself in the part of his soul that was so tired of giving everything and losing everyone.

He was also startled to see how much taller Ahsoka was. It hadn't been that long… but Togruta growth spurts could be something else, apparently.

"I will be meditating here, this evening, so long as the Senator does not mind, to see what I can learn," he said, rather than dwell on changes. 

"Speaking of whom..." Anakin reached out, looking for his wife, the bright center of his universe, as she hadn't immediately come to the sound of the door, but Snips was here, so she had to be. 

"She's resting, Skyguy," Ahsoka fussed at him. "Did you bring me the data pads I asked for? And you can totally go snuggle with her; she needs to wake up to eat something based off what I can find on the holonet."

"What data pads?" Obi-Wan asked, even as he found that protective, bossy tone at Anakin amusing.

Anakin pulled two out of his robes (having wandered away from Obi-Wan to raid the Archives before they came back) and handed them over. "Of course I did, Snips. Everything I could get on Jedi healing for human pregnancies on this one, and specifically labor on that one. 

"Bossy brat," he told her, laying his head between her montrals for a moment before he headed for the bedroom to curl up around his wife. Snips and Obi-Wan were going to have to work their stuff out for themselves, he wasn't even trying with _two_ Temple-raised. 

Ahsoka took the data pads and went to the plush rug, sprawling indecorously on it. "Make yourself comfortable," she called to Obi-Wan. "Human biology is complicated, but at least Naboo humans are so close to standard that I don't have to make allowances for that."

Obi-Wan obeyed the invitation to settle in… and did not press on Ahsoka's personal boundaries, taking a seat on the couch instead.

"I've not had anything to do with child-bearing --"

"Good, because your bedside manner generally stinks," she interjected.

"-- but it might be good for me to look that information over as well," he added, refusing to get riled up at her.

++++

Padmé had merely pressed into Anakin's hold, murmuring sleepily, when he joined her. She felt like she was in normal sleep to him, and the way she tucked in was so trusting and loving all at once.

Anakin hummed softly, curling around her a little more, and settled in. He could be still with Padmé, could relax and let his mind drift, just soaking up her presence. Padmé cuddled more into his warmth, showing no interest in waking up, and all the interest in having him right there.

Anakin could feel the strong Force presence she carried, could feel that Force reaching out into Padmé as if shielding and nurturing the mother. He had not felt that when Ahsoka pointed out the malign influence, as if it was able to push the child's connection away. As if aware of the scrutiny, the primitive Force signature pulled back from him as well, and Padmé started to stir, responding to his nearness now by turning in his hold, her lips finding his throat lightly.

"Ani?" she murmured softly.

"Hello, Angel," he answered, just as soft, tipping his head back to give her more of his throat if she wanted, his fingers wrapping a little closer around her. "How are you?" 

She took that invitation, tongue tracing his throat, light kisses that wouldn't leave marks following, before she answered. "Very good, to wake up with you in our bed."

'Our bed'. Every time she said things like that, it seared straight through him, and he shuddered against her lips, his hand stroking along her skin. "It is pretty wonderful," he agreed, soft, enjoying the feel of her so close. 

She moved sensuously against him, then stilled suddenly as her stomach growled loudly. That made her laugh. "Please tell me you won't have to leave right after dinner?" she asked, her voice sultry with ideas for later.

"Not that I know of," he answered, smile on his lips for her amusement at herself, at the moment of sheer physicality that she would probably claim showed that she was no angel. "As far as I know, I'm all yours for the night... though possibly we shouldn't be quite _that_ mean to Obi-Wan?

"...yes, you and Snips were right, he knows, and he wants to help catch whoever has been influencing us." 

Padmé's lips played over his jaw. "I do go to sleep so much better after we make love," she said, refusing to be dissuaded from her intent with him. She moved a little more intently against him, just to tease him toward agreeing. She knew the room was fairly well sound-proofed after all.

He whined at her, low soft noise that was nothing like protest, dipping his head to kiss her as he twisted to press closer to her, his fingers stroking down her back. He knew he had no control where she was concerned, that he could not shield against Ahsoka and Obi-Wan when they were this close -- but they could block _him_ , and now that he didn't have to hide... 

"Anything you want, my wife," he answered her, against her lips, want curling in a hot pool low in his groin and up around his spine. 

"Good." Her eyes smoldered with desire, claiming his mouth hungrily… before the baby pummeled the heat source pressing close on her belly, and she had to laugh again. "I am at the mercy of my stomach and the baby, Ani!" she pouted.

Her want had poured through his nerves, the feel of her desire something that always undid him, and then she was laughing against his mouth, pouting in exasperation at... their child, their son or daughter. He'd felt something for a moment even through the layers he was wearing, sharp little pressures, and wonder sparked in his mind, probably in his eyes. 

"Oh?" he asked, fascinated, wanting to know everything, his hand still petting her.

"I'm very hungry, in more than one sense of the word," she purred. "But our baby thinks you're a furnace." She smiled at him. "I suppose I'll just have to take the top tonight," she teased him, before her stomach gurgled again. "After dinner," she added, sitting up to get on her feet. "And Obi-Wan is here? I should put on a heavier robe then."

"He's here," Anakin agreed -- once he could breathe again from her blatant sensuality, the easy way she said such things and her easy self confidence -- watching her move, seeing the way her clothes wrapped close around her, "and yes, probably." 

"So, no flaunting what you have the privilege of curling up with?" she teased, smiling even as she was reaching for her thicker robe to mask the sheer nightdress she was wearing. "No teasing him for being a stuffy Jedi?"

He did not growl, did not even tense much, as he watched her wrapping up, knowing she was only being playful. She didn't... she would never actually... "He's been protecting us," he replied, still wrestling with something dark and shadowed in the back of his mind, "so please don't be mean to him." 

She came over to him, leaning down to kiss him warmly. "Anakin, I like Obi-Wan as a friend. I feel terrible for him because of his losses. But you don't need to worry about anything ever happening between he and I," she said with a perception that bordered on Force-level insight. "He's your brother in a lot of ways, father in others, and frankly, not my type."

He stared at her for a moment, then laughed helplessly, his hands sliding behind her back as he looked up at her. The darkness in the back of his mind evaporated, now, as quickly as her words had summoned it as she spoke so steadily and bluntly. 

"I don't -- I don't know what I was thinking for a second there, Padmé," he admitted, the pads of his fingertips running up her back slowly, "but I don't think I like myself much for it. I'm sorry."

She held him there. "Possibly one more thread of whatever influenced us, Anakin. I would never, ever insult you by asking someone into our bed without your full cooperation, anyway. There are reasons I discussed Sabé with you." She flicked her fingers through his hair, considering how soon she could enlist her handmaiden into helping her drive Anakin absolutely crazy again. "Now, let's go eat, be polite, and then come back to bed so you can spoil me rotten."

Force, but he loved her so much... he smiled at her, lifting his head to kiss her gently, though the mention of Sabé had a flush up on his cheeks. That woman -- well, she loved Padmé, too. It was a blaze in her thoughts, any time they were together without people around. 

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, rolling up to his feet when she gave him a little bit of space. 

+++

Obi-Wan settled into meditation easily enough. He was careful to ignore Anakin and Padmé until there was actual sleep going on, much as Ahsoka threw herself straight into sleep rather than deal with the sex happening. The last Obi-Wan had noticed of the Togruta was her in a tight little ball in the corner of the couch.

Now, he was centered and aware of the creeping darkness that had descended with the first sign of restlessness from the couch and the bedroom. Idly he felt a flare of… resentment? envy? for the fact that Ahsoka and Anakin had woven such a strong bond between themselves, but he focused more on chasing that intruder. The darkness in the apartment was swelling, and he half-heard Ahsoka tumble off the couch and go for the bedroom, letting herself in.

He pushed into the Force, hating that he could not distinguish who this belonged to… and would it seem different if he tried Qui-Gon's techniques? The thought made him push, made him open to the Living Force more… and that energy sharpened, giving him a visible trail inside the energies all around them for him to follow.

He was up and moving, half-still in trance, but aware enough of the physical world to make it to Anakin's speeder, taking off to follow the trail.

He was a bit clear of the Senatorial Apartments before Anakin was suddenly, sharply in his mind. //Don't you _dare_ try tackling this one without me!//

//Anakin, I know better than to try the full Master when his apprentice put me down!// Obi-Wan managed to reply. //Scouting, then returning to you, my friend.// He clung to that trace in the Living Force, coaxing a bit more speed out with Artoo's warning beep about traffic. "I know, Artoo. Just… trust me."

That got a beep that sounded very unsure, and Obi-Wan felt wounded by an astromech!

"There's a reason we left you in the speeder, friend. You can pilot us back, I promise." That soothed the droid, who extended his controls to wire into the speeder through the mods Anakin had crafted for him.

//All right,// Anakin replied, rumbling low and uneasy, but slowly settling back down. //Snips is supporting Padmé, now that she's really awake.//

//Then be ready for me to tell… why are we going to the Senate building? That's the only thing ahead….// Obi-Wan's thoughts cast off in sudden worry and terror at the thought that the Sith Master was actively inside the highest offices of the Republic. He wondered if he could land, and get in without triggering any defenses.

//Don't. you. Even. Think. About. It!// Anakin snarled, panic surging down the bond. //You said you wouldn't!!// 

//It's a big building! I don't know who this is, not with any certainty!// Obi-Wan pleaded, but then he sighed. //No, you're right. Coming back now.// "Artoo, take us back to the Senator." He fixed that Force presence, the one so vivid in the Living Force, like a scar on it, so he could find it again.

++++

"What if it's not actually someone else influencing the Chancellor and us… but the Chancellor himself?"

Ahsoka's words fell into painful silence, but Padmé had Anakin's hand in hers, and Obi-Wan was on his other side, hand resting on the robotic portion of Anakin's arm. None of the three had wanted to sleep again, and when Obi-Wan came in, they'd just moved to the couch.

Except Ahsoka, who was the one up and pacing burning off Anakin's need to move as much as her own.

"I don't like that answer," Anakin said, fierce and burning with the anger he'd been feeling since all of this began.

"But it makes the most sense," Ahsoka bounced right back at him. "You've been suspicious, Skyguy. I can feel it inside you even now, that part of you thinks I am right."

"Dooku -- " Obi-Wan began.

"Don't talk to me about Dooku right now!"

Anakin's outburst triggered that feeling of shadow in his mind, the one that Ahsoka was beginning to fear and loathe. She came and dropped down on her knees in front of him, reaching up to put her hands around his face so he had to look at her directly.

"You are not alone in your own mind, Skyguy," she told him. "I'm not strong enough to chase that; I don't know how! But…" she trailed off, looked at Obi-Wan, then back to him. "He might be. Can you please let us just chase those shadows, and find out who they link to? What if it is a Jedi? What if Barriss's ideas came from inside the Temple? What if the rule of two is a lie, and we're really up against a cabal of Sith?"

Her questioning, the fact that even in his temper, she would willingly put herself in his physical space, touch him, made his anger and rejection fade so much. His padawan-no-longer was a brave person, and she had given _him_ her loyalty. He owed her at least this much, even if it meant letting Obi-Wan in his head.

That wouldn't be so bad. Everything about Dooku and Padmé had gone smoother than he'd hoped for in his wildest dreams after all.

Obi-Wan held still until he felt Anakin relax into that request. If the Chancellor were truly the Sith, then Anakin's risk went all the way back to Naboo and the aftermath of the battle there. Which did not set well with him at all. And if there was a Jedi in league with the man, they needed to root that out too.

"With Ahsoka here to protect Padmé and us, I think we can find the right level of meditation to explore your mind," he offered his former padawan. 

Anakin took a very slow breath and then released it. "Padmé, can we borrow the bedroom?" he said before he lost his nerves.

"Of course, Ani." Padmé's eyes locked on Obi-Wan, half a plea to take care of him, and half a warning not to hurt him. Anakin rose and strode that way with purpose, while Obi-Wan followed more decorously.

Ahsoka, having moved for Anakin to rise, took the vacated spot and started to curl her arms around her legs, but Padmé reached and pulled her into a hug instead.

"You being willing, and able, to push Anakin a little, is only part of why you belong in our family, Ahsoka. Thank you."

"He's my brother, forever and ever," the young woman said softly. "I have to take care of him because he's too busy trying to fix everything."

Padmé smiled. "You try to do the same thing. So you let me know, little 'Soka, if you need or want anything. Because now I get to take care of you too."

Ahsoka smiled at that, but shook her head. "You have a whole sector, and the Republic, to take care of, as well as the baby."

"I know." Padmé hugged her a little more. "And maybe you can help me with my committee, to draft the bills needed to help the troops be settled after we end this war."

"I can do that," Ahsoka said, passion and determination causing her to vibrate with anticipation over the idea. Padmé noticed how it affected her lekku, the colors so bright and little ripples of motion in them.

"The _Vod'e_ mean a lot to you. I've seen that before, when you were on Naboo, trying to take care of them even as you were getting so sick," she said.

Ahsoka nodded slightly. "The boys are my family too. Torrent Company more than the rest, but I will never turn a _vod_ away. Ever."

"Especially one in particular?" Padmé had to tease, and she saw the bronze-red skin darken significantly. 

"They're all _aliit_ ," Ahsoka dodged, and Padmé let her. At seventeen, those feelings might very well be a crush, and Padmé wasn't mean enough to press or even suggest the feelings might fade with time. It was part of growing up, after all, to try and sometimes fail at finding love.

They quieted, and slowly, despite knowing the stress her husband was facing, Padmé drifted off in the corner of the couch, one arm loosely on Ahsoka's shoulders. The Togruta remained alert, using all her senses against the potential threat to them all.

++++

Obi-Wan, and a very haggard-looking Anakin, stepped in front of the Council almost as they were settling their chairs, the holos of those away from Coruscant popping into place, for the day.

"Council members," Obi-Wan said, refusing to take his chair, as the center of the room was more appropriate to him for this. "Anakin and I have had a busy, and trying, evening and early morning," he said once Mace nodded. Yoda was gone, but his holo showed the ears pricking forward in interest.

"Do share with us, Master Kenobi," Mace invited.

"As of this morning, we know who Darth Sidious is, the Sith Master," Obi-Wan said. "And we, as well as the Republic, are in grave danger because of it."

Since Obi-Wan had taken a seat on the Council, he had heard many loudly acrimonious and startled discussions within this chamber. None of them, he thought, were rivaled by the sudden explosion in his ears and across his vision. He could not see even half of their reactions at once, his eyes drawn by his ears. 

"What, Obi-Wan?! You've -- " Kit Fisto's hologram sat up rigidly straight -- he had departed to support a renewed defense of Rodia the previous evening -- his many tentacles flexing and coiling behind his broad shoulders. 

Beside Kit's seat, Shaak Ti's still sat empty, the Togruta woman still recovering from the injuries she had taken from Grievous, and because Stass Allie was on her way to Saleucami, she was slightly distracted. Obi-Wan swung his gaze around from that point, still drawn by echoes of the many exclamations. Saesee Tiin was almost rigid in his seat, his cranial horns pointed more forward than usual and his unsettling golden eyes blazing with what Obi-Wan thought was hope, one large hand flexing. 

Coleman Kcaj had exclaimed in his native tongue rather than Basic, Obi-Wan thought, that liquid flash of speech not something often heard. Agen Kolar's sharp cry had been simply, "Who?!", though at a volume the Council rarely endured. His seat, and Anakin's, were empty, Depa Billaba was dealing with a campaign, which swept him on to Ki-Adi-Mundi, whose resonant voice had asked much the same question. 

Yoda and Mace were still as stones, one physically there, one in his holo, and to their other side, Plo Koon had asked the other pressing question, "In danger how?"

Obi-Wan decided to answer Plo Koon first. "Masters, when Count Dooku told me, at the time of my near-execution on Geonosis, that the Senate, the Republic, was already under the sway of a Sith Lord, he told us the truth, because of course we would not believe such.

"Yet, I tell you now, I spent the better part of my early morning helping undo deep-seated compulsions from my former padawan's mind, compulsions that stretched back to his official acceptance into the Temple," Obi-Wan said, eyes sweeping those that were on Mace's side of the room, before he turned to view the other half. "These compulsions range from simple little things like questioning basic Jedi Tenets, to actively sabotaging the trust a padawan needs with his teacher."

"But who, Obi-Wan? _Who?!_ " Agen Kolar stressed again.

Mace's face was growing stormy even as Obi-Wan turned back to address him directly, as if his abilities were beginning to form the name out of the shatterpoints slowly dissolving and outright exploding in his grasp of the near-future.

"Sheev Palpatine is Darth Sidious," Obi-Wan said firmly, having settled facing forward with his shoulder firmly against Anakin's to lend him support.

He'd thought the first outcry was loud. Now every Master, even Yoda, cried out in shock and not insignificant horror, while Anakin shifted sideways to put them back-to-back. 

Anakin closed his eyes rather than see each of those reactions; he honestly wasn't interested in anything the Council had to say on this. They couldn't be a third as upset as he was, and he was just going to wait them out. When Obi-Wan started talking again, he would pay attention. 

Obi-Wan dropped his hands to his side, and slipped his fingers back to Anakin's, offering that little bit of further support, and not caring if any Master noticed it. He let them rage for a bit, before Mace Windu cleared his throat, and Plo Koon took on what Obi-Wan had learned, from the war, was his seriously-angry posture.

"Master Kenobi, the Force, if anyone is willing to listen to it," Mace began pointedly, "is in agreement, but I admit curiosity how you came to learn such when we have all been blind to it."

"Simply put, having an outsider looking in was the key," Obi-Wan said simply. "Lady Tano is to be credited with noting the shadow of manipulation when she met with Anakin recently. Anakin requested my presence, and we searched through it together." He had stressed Ahsoka's title very minutely, but it felt… freeing, to get some vindication back for her sake. They had made such an error in handling all that, and he had not fought for her, to his shame.

Anakin had half-smiled at Master Windu's abrasive tone -- when it wasn't turned in his direction, he didn't mind watching that man get angry -- his fingers tangling through his brother's, and then Obi-Wan... laid into them and rubbed the Council's collective nose in what they'd done to his Ahsoka. 

He was going to have to tell Ahsoka all about that, when they were back together. For the moment, though, they were actually being useful, so he refocused on them.

Plo… well, if Obi-Wan was reading him right, there was one part pride and one part being abashed at that announcement. Mace's lips thinned, but then he'd pushed the whole issue the worst, it seemed.

"Then we, the Council, and the Order, owe her much gratitude for setting you and Skywalker on the path of discovery," Mace said, breathing out his ill-emotions as unseemly. "Moving forward, that is where we must now concentrate our resources."

"We should demand his resignation!" Agen argued.

"That will get us nowhere," Plo offered. "No, we must force him to reveal his nature openly, for that tactic to work, or actually find evidence so the Senate can demand it in a manner that will withstand his scheming."

Anakin took a slow breath, unhappy about admitting that Plo Koon was right. "...he wants me to Fall, Masters. He knows perfectly well you want me to spy on him, he attempted to coax a confirmation of it out of me when last I saw him. 

"Acting is not my strong suit, but I -- " 

" _No!_ "

No one in the room was more surprised than Obi-Wan himself at his sudden, very intense word that cut off Anakin's speech. "Anakin, I am fairly certain I cleared all of his commands free of your mind today, but I don't know that you won't be even more susceptible to him for how much damage we did in doing so! You will not try to play him out to get him to reveal himself." He glared at Mace for good measure, to push that proposal completely off the table. 

Plo considered that ferocity for a moment, much as others who had spent too much time on the front lines, protecting and protected by the armies, and felt something inside him shift fully toward an awareness that had been building. However, that would be for later.

"I agree it would be a risk for him," Stass Allie said. "And many avenues we might try are surely blocked, but here's one to consider, fellow Council members. We pull our forces back to holding positions only, and send special missions to get intel leaked across the Separatist lines that we have found the traitor within the Republic. That this 'very high official' will shortly be 'taken care of', and let the chaos spread."

It was a suggestion worthy of Adi, had she lived this long, Obi-Wan thought, having long admired that master's grasp of tactics.

Yesterday, Anakin knew, he would have snarled fury at Obi-Wan for the order, for the absolute ferocity. Would have been unable to hear his brother's concern for what it was, would have heard anything _but_. Now, though, after everything they had been through in his mind, after all of his Master's unswerving support, he just leaned back a little and said quietly, "All right, Obi-Wan. You're probably right. I'm not eager to give him another shot at me -- but I _am_ his voice in this body, for the moment. I can send reports for a little while longer, thankfully."

"A point," Saesee Tiin said, considering. "And yet… Master Stass Allie, allow me to modify your plan?"

"Of course," she said.

"We fall in to a holding pattern in the lesser contested regions, but pick one system that is considered strongly Separatist, and stage our two strongest units and their generals in the vicinity, to make it seem that we are so confidant we will take down their inside source that it truly sends their leaders into a frenzy of confusion over what to do next," he offered.

"Hmm, send the Chancellor into curiosity. Remove from him, access to Skywalker, this will, adding to his inability to plan, perhaps?" Yoda offered, glimpsing the plan's scope a little more.

The second-to-last thing in the galaxy Anakin wanted to do was leave his pregnant wife and unborn children (and he was so certain suddenly it was more than one child) behind to go back to the front lines -- but he couldn't risk being in the Chancellor's presence, either. It was the only rational decision... and Ahsoka would never leave Padmé. The 501st should be well on their way to all being healed by now, so his legion would be with him. Obi-Wan's, though, was scattered halfway through the galaxy saving the _Vod'e_. Could they pull this off without the 212th in place? 

//We'll figure it out, even if we just borrow a few from those we can to flesh us out. More for show than doing, if I am understanding correctly,// Obi-Wan pressed down the bond. Aayla, for instance, had been one of the generals that the 212th had gone to first, having worked with her unit a few times. They could ask for some of her men, probably Plo's as well, since he'd pulled back to the Temple currently, having stalled his campaign on Cato Neimodia.

"This is a good plan, but we'll need Senators on the lookout for abnormal behavior, Senators we can trust and who have the ability to hold secrets," Mace mused aloud.

//Good point, brother,// Anakin agreed, and it took everything he had to bite his lip on suggesting Padmé. But with her pregnancy, he didn't want her any more in Sidious' sights than she already was. //...what about Senator Organa?// 

Obi-Wan squeezed his fingers for that. "Master Windu, I suggest approaching Bail Organa of Alderaan," and he pointedly ignored the knowing looks of Masters who remembered why Bail and he were friends, despite Obi-Wan's distaste for most politicians. "He is discreet, well-respected, and always a friend of the Jedi. Pointed in the right direction, he will serve as eyes and ears, I am certain."

Anakin was suddenly absolutely certain that there was a story here he didn't know, and he wanted to, but the link between them was still a little fragile. 

"A good choice, Master Kenobi," Stass Allie agreed. "And he will know others that can be trusted to help watch, even if he does not share exactly what is being watched for."

"Then, fellow Masters, I believe we have a plan." Mace looked at ease with the concepts, even if he was itching to just go confront the man… even knowing how poorly that would work for them.

Ki-Adi-Mundi nodded, his pale eyes deeply thoughtful. "I think that is a wise course, yes." 

"It seems we're always throwing the two of you into the deep end," Kit Fisto said, the corners of his mouth not smiling for once, "but I too agree." 

"Fortunately, we're both good swimmers," Obi-Wan said in a very dry tone.


End file.
